After being reborn, the villain comes with a spoiler tag.

Long Yucheng glanced at Huo Yu again, hesitated for a moment, and finally mustered up the courage to ask:

"Senior Brother Yu, are you... really a member of the demonic path?"

Although he had vaguely guessed that Senior Brother Yu was the demonic ally mentioned in the side quest, Long Yucheng was still somewhat shocked when the truth was presented to him in this way.

If what he thinks is true, then the identity of "Senior Brother Yu" that he knows might not be real.

"Yes, my real name is Huo Yu."

Huo Yu readily admitted it, and with a sway of his body, he had already returned to his original form.

Long Yucheng and the Left Protector were clearly stunned by this scene.

The former was stunned speechless by Huo Yu's immediate change of expression—literally.

The latter was because his mind was racing with thoughts, causing his brain to become somewhat overloaded for a moment.

"Who exactly is this kid? The Lord just told him his real name like that? Although most people in the cultivation world only know the Demon Lord and not Huo Yu, there are still quite a few people who know the name Huo Yu. Is he really going to reveal his identity on the spot like that?!"

The Left Protector was inwardly turbulent, but outwardly remained calm and composed.

"No, no, no, from another perspective, this is also the Lord's usual style. After all, with the Lord's strength, he really doesn't need to take others seriously. When he's happy, he'll announce his name; when he's unhappy, he'll kill everyone who knows his name, so naturally no one will know what he's called."

"But speaking of which, who exactly is this kid!"

The Left Protector muttered to himself, his gaze shifting back and forth between Huo Yu and Long Yucheng.

After a long silence, Long Yucheng finally broke the silence and sincerely praised:

"I didn't expect that Yu... no, Senior Brother Huo's face used to be quite handsome."

He silently added the second half of the sentence in his mind: Although he is still a bit worse than me.

"..."

Huo Yu was momentarily speechless. He had lived for over a thousand years across his two lifetimes, and this was the first time someone had complimented his appearance.

In fact, Huo Yu was indeed very handsome. Compared to Long Yucheng, who had sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes and the standard appearance of a righteous young man, Huo Yu's appearance was more refined. Coupled with his calm and reserved yet humble and dignified temperament, if one did not know his identity, he would really have the air of a pampered young master from a noble family.

Before becoming the Demon Lord, Huo Yu was a loner, and almost none of the people he had ever interacted with were still alive. After becoming the Demon Lord, naturally no one dared to praise the legendary, ruthless, and violent Demon Lord for being handsome—except for Long Yucheng.

The Left Protector was also stunned into silence by this unprecedented statement. He even wanted to see the Lord's appearance for himself, but his strong will to survive made him suppress the thought.

Silence fell again, but soon Long Yucheng broke it himself. He suddenly cupped his hands in a respectful gesture to the Left Protector and asked earnestly:

"Senior, would you mind taking me as your disciple?"

Left Protector had no idea what was going on, and his first reaction was to look at Huo Yu.

Long Yucheng, with his head down, didn't see it. He assumed the Left Protector thought his cultivation was too low and his aptitude too poor, and continued:

"I know that with my abilities, it will be difficult for me to achieve great things, but I believe that diligence can make up for shortcomings and that hard work will be rewarded. I hope that you can give me a chance!"

This was exactly what Huo Yu wanted.

He was still figuring out how to trick Long Yucheng into going with him when this kid couldn't wait to deliver himself right to his doorstep.

Huo Yu sent a divine thought directly to the Left Protector. After receiving Huo Yu's divine thought transmission, the Left Protector pretended to be profound and said something he himself couldn't understand before nodding in agreement.

Long Yucheng immediately kowtowed on the ground, thus formally becoming a disciple.

After completing the apprenticeship ceremony, Long Yucheng sincerely called out "Master" and "Senior Brother".

He had prepared himself for rejection, but the result was a pleasant surprise.

As for switching to the demonic path, Long Yucheng only hesitated for a second before abandoning all psychological pressure.

After experiencing near-death experiences in the secret realm, he realized that the protagonist's halo is not omnipotent; and the experience of being abandoned by the sect as a pawn further strengthened his determination to become stronger.

Long Yucheng had already realized that in this dog-eat-dog world of cultivation, only strength mattered.

For low-level disciples who have no say, there is no difference between the righteous path and the demonic path!

Huo Yu was very satisfied with the result.

He neither restricted the freedom of Long Yucheng, this pawn, nor prevented him from being kept under his control.

Whether Long Yucheng follows the righteous path or the demonic path is irrelevant to Huo Yu.

"This item should be returned to its rightful owner."

Huo Yu remembered the root cause of this chaos—the Crimson Flame Sword was still in his hands.

Long Yucheng took the Crimson Flame Sword in a daze, and asked somewhat blankly:

"Senior Brother Huo, don't you want this sword?"

The Crimson Flame Sword is a fire-attribute magic weapon, which matches the attribute of the cultivation technique Huo Yu practices. Long Yucheng still remembers the scene in that secret realm where the Crimson Flame Sword displayed its great power in Huo Yu's hands.

He hadn't intended to ask for the sword back. Although he was still a little heartbroken, Long Yucheng comforted himself:

It's much better that the Crimson Flame Sword ended up in Senior Brother Huo's hands than for those hypocritical elders to get it. Besides, Senior Brother Huo has helped me so many times, what's a mere sword compared to that?

"This sword is indeed remarkable, but I do not practice the way of the sword, so it is useless to me."

Huo Yu's words were not meant to comfort Long Yucheng. When he first obtained the sword, he too was awestruck by its unparalleled forging skill and formidable power, but only for a moment.

He doesn't practice swordsmanship; in his hands, this sword is practically no different from a fire poker.

It appears powerful in his hands, but it's merely him forcibly using spiritual power to unleash the sword's inherent power; there's no technique involved whatsoever.

Compared to Huanglong Daoren, who could already control his sword intent at will, his swordsmanship was as immature as a child's.

As for switching to sword cultivation, Huo Yu had never even considered it. His path revolved around himself, with magical artifacts and external objects merely aids in enhancing his cultivation.

Sword cultivators, on the other hand, take the sword as their path, with humans as their secondary means, and their ultimate goal is the unity of man and sword. This is completely contrary to Huo Yu's path of self-supremacy.

"I see."

Although Long Yucheng was somewhat surprised, he accepted the explanation. His goodwill towards Huo Yu increased significantly once again.

Only the Left Protector, who had been observing from the beginning to the end, nearly vomited blood.

He recognized the sword as extraordinary at a glance; judging from the pressure emanating from its blade, it was at least a low-grade spirit sword.

The Lord just casually gave it to a Qi Refining Level 1 cultivator? Is he going to use it to chop wood?

A common man is innocent, but possessing a treasure is a crime. Isn't Your Majesty afraid that this foolish boy will not only lose the sword, but also his life in the end?

In his frantic state, the Left Protector suddenly had a flash of inspiration and realized something—

He had been wondering why this scene seemed so familiar; it turns out the Lord was playing a nurturing game!